Today Cabinet Office announced the publication of guidance for civil servants on the use of social media as well as guidance for Departments to overcome the technical barriers to civil servants accessing the internet and social media channels.
The social media guidance is made up of six principles:
Government should
- Communicate with citizens in the places they already are
- Use social media to consult and engage
- Use social media to be more transparent and accountable
- Be part of the conversation with all the benefits that brings
- Understand that government cannot do everything alone, or in isolation
- Expect civil servants to adhere to the Civil Service Code (online as well as offline)
Writing in the foreword to the guidance the Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude notes “When civil servants, policy makers and service delivery units alike, open themselves to dialogue with the public they can glean a much better understanding of the real needs and concerns of citizens. They can keep up to date with the latest thinking as well as being a listening post and avenue for real time reassurance and information”
In his foreword, Sir Bob Kerslake (@sirbobkerslake), Head of the Civil Service, points to the role that social media will have in changing ways of working “The workplace of the future will have to be less rigid, less hierarchical and a lot more flexible. Participating in social media is a good way to learn how a modern workforce engages and communicates”
The work done on the social media use guidance, which was a commitment in the Government ICT strategy published in March 2011, has not been done in a vacuum. It iterates from previous guidance from the COI in 2009, from discussions and debates with public sector colleagues at events like UKGovCamp, policy contributions from those interested in the digital space (though not necessarily working in government) such as @Puffles2010 presentation on The Impact of Social Media on Whitehall (.ppt file 8MB), Teacamp debates, Steph Gray's (@lesteph) Digital Engagement Guide, the many interested Twitter users as well as from our own staff here in GDS @GovUK.
Part 2 of the guidance on helping Departments overcome technical barriers was developed by the Home Office and provides a very valuable snapshot of some of the significant challenges that will need to be overcome in the coming months.
For those who are regular users of social media there will be little new, but for some of our civil service colleagues who may have experienced both cultural and technical barriers in the use of social media at work, we hope it will be used as a means of empowering them to explore what social media offers, whether that is consulting and engaging, improving their policy practice or simply listening to better act on the concerns of citizens. The world of digital engagement is evolving all the time and we anticipate that this guidance will not be something that remains static but will continue to iterate over time.
We welcome continued contributions and feedback on how government can engage with social media with a constant focus on trust, users and delivery. The guidance on social media use is now on the Cabinet Office site.
Emer Coleman is Deputy Director for Digital Engagement at the Government Digital Service
38 comments
Comment by Social media guidelines for DH staff | Digital Health posted on
[…] There are many guidelines for using social media on the web. The most important guidance for Civil Servants has been developed by the Cabinet Office […]
Comment by Whatever happened to open government and open policy? A scorecard posted on
[…] encouragement for civil servants using social media. […]
Comment by Policy, delivery, Government digital service posted on
[...] Advisory Board set up Apr: Budget commitments: Digital Strategies and Cost Per Transactions May: Social Media Guidelines and delivered alpha service for Office of Public Guardian (Lasting Powers of Attorney) with [...]
Comment by Digital Transformation in 2013: The strategy is delivery. Again. | Government Digital Service posted on
[...] Board set up Apr: Budget commitments (PDF): Digital Strategies and Cost Per Transactions May: Social Media Guidelines and delivered alpha service for Office of Public Guardian (Lasting Powers of Attorney) with [...]
Comment by 2012: Making the best of an awful year | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] Teacambs with Liz Stevenson and fed into the new social media guidance for civil servants – allowing Puffles to take the credit. I was also pleased to get this blog cited on a national newspaper website for the first time too [...]
Comment by Puffles’ Twitter Lists – The Civil Service | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] I’ve mentioned Emer Coleman – Head of Digital Engagement at the Government Digital Service who joined from the GLA. Dragon fairies are normally notoriously hard to train and make sense of, but with Emer this seemed to happen instantaneously. Not only that, she completely re-wrote the rule book on how to engage with the wider public on social and digital media – i.e. go where the conversation happens to be. The first substantial example of this I saw from Whitehall was when she started crowd-sourcing for ideas of what should and should not be in new social media guidance for the civil service. Being the first person to write a blogpost about it following the announcement (via Twitter), she started the discussion process in the comments section of that post, with the final result being the guidance and a (*wingtip*) for Puffles in the Cabinet Office blogpost that accompanied the press release. [...]
Comment by Cabinet Office issues social media guidance for civil servants - Government Tenders, Government News and Information - Government Online posted on
[...] deputy director of digital engagement at the GDS and one of the authors of the advice, says in a blog post on the service’s website that when using social media the government [...]
Comment by Social media – Must we measure? | Government Digital Service posted on
[...] been some months since GDS published our social media guidance for Civil Servants, and there’s been lots of interest across the civil service (and beyond) in the idea of social in [...]
Comment by ***Thank you*** | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] – or has become – Puffles the dragon fairy. Not least the Government Digital Service. The inclusion of Puffles in the media release of Cabinet Office’s Social Media Guidance for Ci... is still something I have to pinch myself over. I wasn’t paid for my contributions – [...]
Comment by Digital a key component for Civil Service Reform Plan - Mike Bracken. posted on
[...] encouraging to see the plan build on initiatives like our recently publishedSocial Media Guidance for Civil Servants when exploring the concept of open policy making. It calls for civil servants to use “web-based [...]
Comment by My civil servant Twitter rules « Work posted on
[...] hope this post helps fellow civil and public servants. For further reading, check out social media guidance for civil servants and the civil service [...]
Comment by The Civil Service Fast Stream – is it right for you? | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] because changing organisational cultures towards social media is like turning around an oil tanker. The Government Digital Service made a start with the social media guidance published in May 2012. I was one of the external contributors (hence the mention of Puffles in that link) – which [...]
Comment by June’s Teacambs « teacambs posted on
[...] are likely to become aware of pressure from the top of Whitehall – especially on the back of new social media guidance from Cabinet Office. How quickly can managers in the middle deal with pressures coming in from above and below their [...]
Comment by In praise of…the Government Digital Service | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] (esp if you are in the wider public sector as this is likely to come your way too), and the Open Data White Paper. With both of these documents, the processes by which these were put together and the way things [...]
Comment by NEWZ-SPOOF: “Knight of Realm tames dragon with cake!” | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] being sort of appropriate that Puffles is there with me, if anything just to get some points over. Puffles has been directly linked to in a Cabinet Office media release, has accompanied me in social media seminars for local councillors – including the Mayor of [...]
Comment by Digital a key component for Civil Service Reform Plan | Government … | Government Civil posted on
[...] encouraging to see the plan build on initiatives like our recently published Social Media Guidance for Civil Servants when exploring the concept of open policy making. It calls for civil servants to use “web-based [...]
Comment by Digital a key component for Civil Service Reform Plan | Government Digital Service posted on
[...] encouraging to see the plan build on initiatives like our recently published Social Media Guidance for Civil Servants when exploring the concept of open policy making. It calls for civil servants to use “web-based [...]
Comment by Reform of the civil service – today’s White Paper | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] Bob Kerslake commented in the new social media guidance that the civil service was going to have a flatter/less hierarchical structure than in the past. [...]
Comment by Special guests for June’s Teacamp « teacambs posted on
[...] also convenes the Teacamp London gatherings in Whitehall. If you have any questions to ask about Cabinet Office’s new guidance on social media, she is the person to ask. For those of you coming to Teacambs for the first time, you may want to [...]
Comment by New organisations coming along to Teacambs, new Facebook page & some FAQs « teacambs posted on
[...] sector is concerned) has come about through the publication of new guidance from Cabinet Office. The guidance is here. A couple of us behind Teacambs fed into the development of this guidance. (Reflected by the [...]
Comment by New organisations coming along to Teacambs, new Facebook page & some FAQs | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] sector is concerned) has come about through the publication of new guidance from Cabinet Office. The guidance is here. A couple of us behind Teacambs fed into the development of this guidance. (Reflected by the [...]
Comment by Changing corporate culture on social media | A dragon's best friend posted on
[...] copies of your current social media guidance, and to ask you what plans you have to update them following the new guidance published by Cabinet Office in May 2012. (Please note Puffles has been credited in the release from Cabinet [...]
Comment by Actions speak louder than words: being a digital practitioner « Clear message posted on
[...] can read it here. No big surprises; all very practical, positive [...]
Comment by Home Office launch guidelines for social media use | Birmingham City Council Social Media Working Group posted on
[...] http://digital.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/2012/05/17/cabinet-office-launches-social-media-guidance-for-civ... ← David White – Connecting our journeys – videos of talk [...]
Comment by adragonsbestfriend posted on
Well done everyone for producing this. I have some thoughts at http://antonycarpen.co.uk/2012/05/17/new-civil-service-social-media-guidance/ on what you may want to cover in social media awareness-raising/outreach work across Whitehall and beyond.
Comment by mikewill posted on
Overcoming technical barriers? No tags, no bookmarks, no alt text, no metadata? Do you still have any usability and accessibility standards for PDFs? http://coi.gov.uk/guidance.php?page=149
Comment by James Taylor posted on
Thanks- point taken. We will amend to meet standards next week as you've suggested.
James
Comment by annemcx posted on
With social media engagement an increasingly important element in good governance for all types of organisation, the fact GDS is leading the way with this initiative puts a significant level of contemporary professionalism into government communication and is to be applauded.
The guidelines are very practical and well put together, yet simple. It's impressive how listening and developing networked influence are being addressed. Very many congratulations to the team.
Comment by Cabinet Office releases guidance on social media for civil servants – Discovery Brand posted on
[...] Coleman, deputy director for digital engagement at the Government Digital Service added in a blog post: “For those who are regular users of social media there will be little new, but for some of [...]
Comment by William Perrin posted on
well done. in any bureaucracy adoption of innovation comes down to leadership by people respected in the hierarchy and likely to form the next wave of leaders.
how many rising policy stars, perm secs, young dep secs, under secs, DD are using social media regularly as part of their jobs? and how can you increase that.
Comment by Developing social media guidelines – the ACAS advice | Minerva’s pencil case posted on
[...] has seen the launch of GDS’s Social Media Guidelines for Government. I’ll blog on those soon, but I was reminded last week that one of BIS’s partner [...]
Comment by Axel Schultze posted on
Excellent work - now part two is to make all the public service units aware of this and help them understand. And the real challenge is in step three - ACTING on it. And TOP 5 "Understand that government cannot do everything alone, or in isolation" is the key to the execution strategy. #da12social
Comment by James Coltham posted on
Great to see such a high-profile document doing a good job of summarising the issues and benefits that so many of us have been discussing and promoting for years. Hopefully this will be a living document, updated regularly to remain current and adaptive to trends.
Comment by James Taylor posted on
Hi James,
Any suggestions for improvement welcome. These are definitely supposed to be updated over time as you suggest
James
Comment by Alice Pilia (@AlicePilia) posted on
well done guys!
Comment by Liz Court posted on
I don't think I've ever been this excited about new guidance before. Thank you so much guys. This really helps.
Comment by Jane Ide posted on
I second Liz's comment. Woo and indeed hoo! Great principles, simply put, but fundamentally and powerfully liberating. Thank you!
Comment by karmel80 posted on
Excellent! Looking forward to reading it.